Lords Sitting of 3 November 1936

THE KING'S SPEECH.
The KING being seated on the Throne, and the Commons being at the Bar with their Speaker, His Majesty made and subscribed the Declaration pursuant to the Accession Declaration Act, 1910, and afterwards was pleased to make a most gracious Speech to both Houses of Parliament, and then retired.
His Majesty's Speech was as follows:
My Lords and Members of the House of Commons,
"My relations with foreign Powers continue to be friendly.
"The policy of My Government continues to be based upon membership of the League of Nations. They desire to see the League strengthened for its work in the pacific settlement of international disputes, and they have already made known at Geneva their proposals for the improved working and wider authority of the League. My Government will co-operate with other Governments in the work of the Committee of the League which has been set up to examine these and other proposals.
"My Government will continue to do all in their power to further the appeasement of Europe. With this object in view they will persist in their
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efforts to bring about a meeting between the Five Powers signatory to the Treaty of Locarno.
"I trust that, as a result of the negotiations at present in progress, the Treaty for the limitation of naval armaments, which was signed in London on 25th March by representatives of the United States of America, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, New Zealand and India, will form the basis of an international agreement to which all naval Powers will eventually become parties.
"My Government have followed with concern the political situation in the Far East, where peace and tranquillity are so essential to the important interests of My people in that part of the world. It is My hope that the negotiations now in progress between China and Japan may result in a satisfactory solution.
"My Ministers, while maintaining their determination to support the international agreement for non-intervention in Spain, will continue to take every opportunity to mitigate human suffering and loss of life in that unhappy country.
"I trust that before the end of the present year the Treaty of Alliance with Egypt will have been ratified by Myself and the King of Egypt, and that it will prove to be the means of loyal co-operation between our two Governments and peoples whose

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destinies are inseparably bound together by common aims and interests.
"A meeting of the Imperial Conference is to be held in London next May, and I am confident that the opportunity thus afforded for discussions between representatives of My several Governments will once more prove its value in promoting a closer understanding between all My peoples. I am glad to think that this meeting will coincide in time with the occasion of My Coronation.
"It is My hope, when the solemnity of My Coronation has been celebrated, to revisit My Indian Dominions and there to make known in the same manner as My revered Father to the Princes and Peoples of India My succession to the Imperial Crown.
"You will be asked to approve the drafts of various instruments which are required to implement your decision that the provisions of the Government of India Act affecting the Provinces and of the Government of Burma Act shall come into operation in April next. I have every confidence that the great responsibilities which will devolve upon the representatives of the people of India and of Burma will be faithfully and effectively discharged.
"I deeply regret the serious disturbances which have taken place in Palestine during the last six months, and which made it necessary to despatch additional troops. I welcome the recent improvement in the situation and the Royal Commission, which I have appointed, will leave England this week to undertake their inquiry. I sincerely trust that their examination of the very difficult problems which will come before them will lead to a just and permanent settlement."
"Members of the House of Commons,
"The Estimates for the Public Services will be laid before you.
"The work of strengthening My defence forces is being pressed on with the utmost energy and is now making rapid progress. My Government are satisfied that the measures they are taking are essential to the defence of My Empire and to the ability of this country to discharge its international obligations. My Ministers will nevertheless lose no opportunity of promot-
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ing general international appeasement and the limitation of expenditure on armaments which would naturally follow upon such an improvement of relations."
"My Lords and Members of the House of Commons,
"I am gratified to note that the general trade and industrial outlook continues to be favourable, and that there is good ground for expecting that there will be further improvement. My Ministers will continue to foster industrial activity at home and, in the belief that the attainment of general prosperity here depends on further expansion of our overseas trade, to maintain their efforts to promote the freer exchange of goods throughout the world.
"You will be invited to extend the period of operation of the Special Areas (Development and Improvement) Act, 1934.
"The position of the shipping industry is receiving the careful consideration of My Ministers, with a view to deciding what measures are required to secure the maintenance of a mercantile marine adequate for the needs of the country.
"You will be invited to consider proposals for the furtherance of reorganisation in the coal industry, and for the unification of coal royalties under national control.
"My Ministers have come to the conclusion that the existing law requires amendment in order to deal more effectively with persons or organisations who provoke or cause disturbances of the public peace. A Bill for strengthening the law without interfering with legitimate freedom of speech or assembly will be submitted to you.
"The present law regulating the conditions of work in factories is based upon the Act of 1901, and though it has from time to time been modified in certain particulars, further amendment and consolidation are long overdue. My Ministers intend to invite Parliament to undertake and carry through this important task in the course of the present Session.
"My Ministers will continue to promote by an active and constructive policy the development of home agri-

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culture and fisheries. The position of the livestock industry has been engaging their close attention and legislation will be introduced to promote increased efficiency in that industry and to provide for assistance to the producers of fat cattle.
"A Bill will be introduced with a view to transferring from the county councils to the Minister of Transport the principal roads which constitute the national system of through traffic routes in Great Britain.
"I am impressed with the need for more comprehensive efforts to improve the physical condition of the nation, especially among the younger members of the community, and My Ministers will in due course submit to you proposals designed to carry out this purpose.
"Encouragement will continue to be given to the development of the existing public health services. Vigorous action for the provision of housing accommodation to replace slum dwellings and abate overcrowding will be maintained.
"Legislation will be introduced to provide medical care for young persons who have left school and entered employment, and to extend to persons with limited income voluntary insurance for the purpose of pensions.
"Measures will also be submitted to you to reduce the age limit for the award of pensions to blind persons and to make further provision for the superannuation of local government officers.
"A Bill will also be laid before you to remove certain anomalies in the present standing of Ministers by adjustments and alterations, in their salaries, and for other purposes.
"Close attention will continue to be given to the improvement of conditions in Scotland. My Ministers are examining the Report of the Committee on Scottish Health Services and among measures relating to health a Bill for the development of Scottish maternity services will be introduced. Legislation affecting agriculture in Scotland will also be submitted to you.
"Among other Bills you will be invited to pass are measures to make better provisions for preventing abuses of the law relating to clubs, to regulate unit trusts, to improve the efficiency
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of the organisation of the fire brigade services of the country, and to amend the scheme of railway freight rebates.
"Other measures of importance will be laid before you and proceeded with as time and opportunity offer.
"And I pray that the blessing of Almighty God may rest upon your deliberations."
House adjourned during pleasure.
House resumed at a quarter past four of the clock, the EARL of ONSLOW on the Woolsack.
His Royal Highness the Duke of York—Singly took the Oath.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester—Singly took the Oath.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent—Singly took the Oath.
Several Lords—Took the Oath.

LIST OF THE LORDS TEMPORAL.
GARTER ICING OF ARMS attending, delivered at the Table (in the usual manner) a List of the Lords Temporal in the Second Session of the Thirty-seventh Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: The same was ordered to lie on the Table.
ROLL OF THE LORDS.
The Loan SPEAKER acquainted the House that the Clerk of the Parliaments had prepared and laid it on the Table: The same was ordered to be printed.
SELECT VESTRIES.
Bill, pro forma, read 1a

ADDRESS IN REPLY TO HIS MAJESTY'S MOST GRACIOUS SPEECH
The King's Speech reported by the LORD SPEAKER.
THE EARL OF DARTMOUTH: My Lords, I beg to move that an humble Address be presented to His Majesty in reply to the gracious Speech from the Throne. It

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may be within your Lordships' recollection that during the past few years, in the performance of certain duties, I have made a number of appearances on the floor of this House. May I remind your Lordships that my activities have always been of a peripatetic and never of a vocal character, and I hope therefore they will not be considered to disqualify me from receiving that consideration which I understand is always given so generously to a member addressing this House for the first time. By the performance of those duties it has been my very great privilege, from time to time, to render some small service to His late Majesty King George, and for that reason I value all the more highly the privilege of moving, to-day, in your Lordships' House, a humble Address in reply to the first gracious Speech from the Throne of his successor, our present King.
I would like to thank the noble Viscount the Leader of the House for having allotted to me this very honourable duty, but I could have wished that in his wisdom he had allowed his selection to fall on the shoulders of some one with wider experience and greater knowledge than I can claim to possess, for as we listened to the gracious Speech, to-day, it was evident, I think, that the Parliamentary Session upon which we are now entering is likely to be an extremely critical one. Members of His Majesty's Government will be called upon to deal with a world situation difficult enough as we see it to-day, but one which, if we may judge from our experience of the past few months, is also liable to sudden and alarming changes. It is possible that the greatest privilege of an Englishman, and one most jealously guarded by all Parties, is that of freedom of speech, but it is a privilege which carries with it its own responsibility; and in dealing with questions of such wide range, of such grave importance, and of such obvious difficulty, as those coming under the head of foreign affairs in the gracious Speech, I am conscious that it is a privilege which must only be used with the most careful discretion.
The gracious Speech follows very closely the precedent of the last few years in re-affirming the confidence of His Majesty's Government in the League of Nations. I am afraid there can be
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little doubt that the faith of many in the efficacy of the League has been rather shaken after the failure to prevent an unfortunate war between two member countries. The history of the League during the last twelve months brought us very bitter disappointment, but we also have been taught some useful lessons. It should be remembered that it has always been made clear that if in the first few years of its existence the machinery of the League proved to be inadequate to the task which it had to face, that machinery could be overhauled and strengthened, and the fact that proposals to that effect have already been made, and will be considered by the League itself, should I think do something to restore that lost confidence. It will be a matter of very general regret that owing to, or following on, that failure, differences of opinion should have arisen between this country and Italy; but now that the main causes of misunderstanding have been removed I sincerely hope that the many interests which we have in common will make it possible for the old friendly relations to be re-established. I am encouraged in that hope by that part of the speech, broadcast on Sunday, giving an indication of a desire on the part of the Italian people for the improvement of relations between our two countries.
The appeasement of Europe, ensuring as it would the removal of most of the greatest risks of war, continues to be one of the principal objects of His Majesty's Government, and I think it would be a notable achievement if by means of the Treaty of Locarno the door could be opened and it could be possible for countries divided throughout their history to meet for the purpose of discussion round a Conference table. The appeasement of Europe has, I am afraid, been complicated, I hope only temporarily, by the outbreak of civil war in Spain. The course of events of that war will have been followed with feelings of horror and of sympathy for the people of that afflicted country. The events which led up to the outbreak are familiar, and so are those negotiations so courageously initiated by the French Government, which, proceeding through August, eventually resulted in the establishment of the Non-Intervention Committee. The task of that Committee has

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been difficult and there have been moments of acute anxiety when the existence of that Committee appeared to be in jeopardy. The fact remains, however, that the Committee is still in being and its membership is intact, and surely at the present juncture it is the first concern of statesmanship to ensure that the strife is limited to that area which is already, unfortunately, affected. I am certain that the declared determination of His Majesty's Government to adhere to the policy of non-intervention will meet with general approval. In all this sad story of misery and of human suffering there is one bright spot. Your Lordships will have read with gratification, but without surprise, of the honourable part that has been played by the Royal Navy in the difficult task of evacuation, and you would not wish this occasion to pass without some expression of your Lordships' appreciation of noble work well done in the cause of humanity.
Perhaps of all the matters which are referred to in the gracious Speech the proposals for the strengthening of the Defence Forces of this country will be read with the closest and the most anxious attention. Three years ago the mover of the Address in this House found occasion to congratulate the Government On the efforts that they were then making for disarmament. The change of policy is an alarming one but, my Lords, the blame for the altered situation cannot, I think, in fairness be charged against the Government of this country. They set the example of disarmament; they did, in fact, disarm up to and, as many people think, even beyond the limit of safety. Unfortunately their example has not been followed, and to-day, faced with the gigantic armaments of other countries and in order to secure the adequate defence of our Empire, it has become necessary to push on with the utmost energy with a policy of complete rearmament. So long as there is not underlying that policy any thought of aggression it cannot, I think, be regarded as a menace to peace; indeed, far from increasing the risks of war, it may be considered that that policy will provide one of the most powerful guarantees for the preservation of the peace of Europe. There is an old saying which may be familiar to those of your Lordships who occasionally indulge in the sport of fox-hunting: "The longest way round is often the quickest
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way home"; and it may well be that an energetic policy of rearmament will in the end prove to be the quickest, and certainly the safest, way of obtaining more general disarmament.
The duty of providing the necessary armaments will be that of the Government. The rapidity—for time is an important factor—and the efficiency with which they carry out that task will be watched critically and very anxiously; but, however successful their efforts may be, they will be of little avail unless at the same time they are able to obtain the necessary number of trained men, and it is in this matter of recruiting that every man and every woman can and must help. I am confident that when it is realised that any assistance that can be given in this direction will be a direct and definite contribution to the cause of peace, that assistance will be readily forthcoming. In spite of many anxieties there is, I think, running through the whole of the gracious Speech an underlying tone of confident optimism, which will be universally welcomed, and which cannot fail to have an encouraging effect on trade. There is an important programme of domestic legislation foreshadowed. I will not test your Lordships' forbearance by referring in detail to those measures, but there is just one observation with which I think your Lordships will agree. Important as those measures may be, they cannot continue to produce the beneficial results at which they aim unless the peace of Europe is safely preserved.
There is one reference in the gracious Speech about which there can be no difference of opinion. In a few months we are hoping to witness the great and impressive ceremony of the Coronation of our King. It is a ceremony which means so much in itself, and it will provide an opportunity for a demonstration of that loyalty to the Crown which has for so long been a characteristic of our race. Moreover, coinciding as it will with the meeting of an Imperial Conference here in London, it will provide also an opportunity for the cementing of those ties of brotherhood which already bind so closely together the peoples of this Empire. Is it too optimistic to hope that in this the Coronation year that spirit of goodwill which will dominate every Party and every section of the community in our Empire may be

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reflected in the wider sphere of international relationships? In moving this humble Address I am confident that when it is presented to the King there will go with it far more than the mere expression of loyal gratitude for the gracious Speech from the Throne: there will go with it the fervent prayer of every member of this House that there may be granted to His Majesty a long, a happy, a prosperous and, above all, a peaceful reign. I beg to move.
Moved, That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty as followeth—
"Most Gracious Sovereign.—We, Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, in Parliament assembled, beg leave to thank Your Majesty for the most gracious Speech which Your Majesty has addressed to both Houses of Parliament."—(The Earl of Dartmouth.)
LORD CORNWALLIS: My Lords, on rising to second the Motion that an humble Address be presented to His Majesty, may I first of all express my gratitude to the noble Viscount who leads this House for granting me the opportunity of attempting this very privileged duty. I have, as your Lordships know, only a very short experience of the deliberations of your Lordships' House, and I would crave that same generous indulgence that you have accorded to my humble efforts on two previous occasions. I should like, if I may, to congratulate the noble Earl who has just spoken, and say how very pleased I am to be the first person to welcome him to the debates in your Lordships' House. In other spheres of activity I had the great good fortune to listen to brilliant speeches by his dear father, and I am sure there are many of your Lordships here who remember his great Parliamentary and public career. The noble Earl who has just spoken has, as he reminded you, held a great office of State. He also, I believe, held a constituency by the enormous majority of two votes for a considerable number of years. T know your Lordships will agree that your Lordships' House will be the richer for both his hereditary and personal ability.
The noble Earl has dealt with questions of foreign affairs, and it is my duty to deal more with domestic matters this
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afternoon. At the same time, I think I should just say that even the references to the many parts of the world in the gracious Speech must bring home to us the magnitude of the task that the Government have to face in this respect—the very delicate task of bringing nations together, settling differences and creating peace and harmony in this very troubled world. The Coronation of His Majesty, as has been already mentioned, will bring the Governments of those Dominions closer to our own Government. I personally have great hopes that it will go far deeper than that, that it will be a time of wonderful reunion and of homecoming, citizens in our Dominions coming home to the Motherland, and that it will be a time that will promote fellowship and friendship and will bring closer and closer all those over whom His Majesty rules.
To refer to home matters, in the industrial situation I am sure, my Lords, you are every one thankful—and that is perhaps the only word that expresses our feeling—to note the real improvement in industry and in the number of workers engaged. Eleven million insured people, exclusive of agricultural workers, represent no small achievement in recovery, and the fact that this means millions more in wages will, I cannot help feeling, give great comfort to all of you, who are so deeply concerned with this great problem of unemployment. It leads me to hope that the improvement will be the more continuous and lasting because it is steady and not spectacular. I know every one of your Lordships hopes that those who are still suffering from the tragic stress of unemployment may soon find a betterment of their position. I am glad to note in the gracious Speech that it is intended to continue the operation of the Special Areas (Development and Improvement) Act, and trust that the Government will continue to give increasing and earnest attention to that sad problem. Trade has improved, but there is still need of increased expansion in our export trade. Improvement cannot go on solely through home consumption. Exports, I believe, this year are still only three-quarters of what they were in 1930 and 40 per cent. less than what they were in 1929, the last year of normal trade. One hopes that the currency agreement and the arrangements which have just

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been come to in financial matters with France and the -United States will be a real help towards increasing international trade.
I now come to a subject in regard to which possibly all your Lordships would sooner it were not necessary to legislate, and that is the disturbance of the peace. I know your Lordships would all wish that all political parades should cease, whether they be processions in uniform or whether they be processions with banners of a provocative nature, for they all seem to me somehow to be so completely un-English. We treasure in this land our liberty of speech. We are the envy of every other nation because we settle our differences by reason and not by appeal to mass hysteria. We reach decisions so much better, surely, when we take our politics soberly and quietly, and I am sure we do not want any of these alien influences in our political life.
Your Lordships will welcome the Government's proposal in the near future to implement their pledge to put forward a measure to help the live-stock industry. The producers of fat cattle have had a very lean time! It is to be hoped that the Cattle Levy Subsidy Bill will bring some recompense to those engaged in the production of beef. In other branches of our greatest industry the Government by its demonstrations, its encouragement of research, its insistence on quality have helped to bring efficiency of production up to a very high level. I hope I am not transgressing and that I shall not be accused of being parochial if I give an example from fruit. The Ministry's demonstrations of packing and grading have improved the quality and method of sending the fruit to market; so much so that at a commercial fruit show in my own county the other day those who obtained 95 per cent. of full marks did not get a prize and in some classes 99 per cent. only got third prize.
The efficiency of production is there. It is the efficiency of distribution and of selling that is now required. It is to be hoped that particular attention may be given to this side of agriculture. Surely also, if we are to increase the prosperity of our greatest industry, it is still necessary to educate the people of this country to eat home-grown foods. May I give an example of how little townsfolk seem to think or know about
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that industry—because, after all, it is a factor of Defence which may be vital to our safety and security—by telling your Lordships of an instance of how a private individual tried to educate the motoring public? He placed apples at the side of the road and had notices to say they were free, showing there was not very much market for them. The only thanks he got was that a great number of people invaded his farm asking for paper bags to take them away!
As a Sassenach I hardly dare trespass in Scottish affairs, but perhaps I may be forgiven as an "adopted bairn" in a Scottish regiment. The new Secretary of State for Scotland was our regimental doctor. I have had experience of his medical skill in time of war. I am sure his medical skill and agricultural knowledge will bring benefit to Scottish health and Scottish land. I am sure also that English agriculturists will expect that a continuity of Scottish guidance at the Ministry of Agriculture will bring them equal benefits. But perhaps the passages in the gracious Speech which appeal to me most are those dealing with the health development and improvement of the physical condition of the people. I have had opportunities of an open-air life and of physical recreation denied to many. A foundation must be laid before physical development can really take shape. Houses with light and air are a necessity, coupled with good food. Slums and a lack of nutrition will not grow healthy bodies, however intensive may be the physical education. I have had an opportunity of seeing results, as I was chairman of a large elementary education committee at the time of the reorganisation of education on the lines of the Hadow Report, and I have seen the results on children between the ages of eleven and fourteen of the good food provided by the canteens and of the extra nourishment from milk clubs. I have seen, too, the value of the playing fields at these schools, where the result was seen, not only in physical stature, but in mental alertness as well.
May I put in a plea for those between the ages of fourteen and eighteen, which is a critical time in the life of the boy and girl? I hope that the Government plans will pay special attention to this age group, and, further, that the Government in their activities will co-operate

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to the full with those voluntary organizations—may I call them pioneer organisations?—who, with scanty resources, have done so much and are still doing so much in this matter. Those voluntary organisations will be greatly encouraged to feel that the Government are with them. They will also be greatly encouraged by the words in the gracious Speech to know that His Majesty has a keen interest in their work, and, as they already know, that other members of the Royal Family have also. May those playing fields that we hope to see purchased as a memorial to our late beloved Sovereign also be a means in some way of reducing the appalling mortality of children on our roads.
The noble Earl who moved the Motion has already dealt with rearmament, and I need not say much more, but I would just like to add this, that I think our Services, as he said, have shown that, as always, they are great ambassadors of peace. When those scanty resources that we now have in the Services leave these shores we fall back on the Territorials, and I think every one of your Lordships knows that they, too, are seriously deficient in numbers. I should like to endorse the words of the noble Earl that it is everybody's duty to help recruiting. As a soldier I was taught that military principles remained the same whatever the method or weapon by which they may be carried out. The principles of our statesmanship surely also remain the same however different and diverse may be the routes by which our policies are carried out. May I quote the words of a great statesman of the past which I think show that one of the greatest forces of peace is a strong and united nation? William Pitt said:
"When England is strong, or thought to be strong, there will be peace in Europe. When England is weak, or thought to be weak, there will be war and rumours of war."
I thank your Lordships for your forbearance and patience. I will not strain your generosity any further—I may have done so too much already—but I would like just to re-echo the words of the noble Earl who proposed the Motion and pray, as I know we all do, that our Sovereign Lord the King may have a peaceful and glorious reign. Under His rule may His people be led to happiness and prosperity, and may He receive for many years the
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loyalty and devotion of a rejuvenated nation. I beg to second the Motion.
LORD SNELL: My Lords, one of the most agreeable duties that fall to the Leader of the Opposition is the privilege, as well as the duty, of uttering a few words of congratulation and encouragement to those very nervous speakers who have had the great responsibility of per-forming a very difficult task. As one who has had to do it himself in another place I know something of the strain that it involves, but I am sure that no speaker ever occupied my position to-day who could utter words of congratulation with greater sincerity than I can. The task has been performed with great efficiency and with the additional grace of modesty. I reflected whilst the noble Earl and the noble Lord were speaking that we hear far too seldom from those who for the moment we will call junior Back Benchers. I feel that if they were to show any sign of sustained eloquence they would be sternly reproved by the mandarins on their Front Bench. I also feel that it is my duty on this occasion to ask those Back Benchers to consider the question of migration, to get away from the congested and depressed areas in which they sit and come over to the wide and open spaces of these Benches.
I feel that the noble Earl and the noble Lord have made a very interesting and courteous survey of the gracious Speech which is before us. It is not the practice in your Lordships' House, I think, on an occasion like this, to enter into a very long or acrimonious debate, and I would like to say at once that in the few words that I shall have the privilege of addressing to you I shall omit altogether questions of Defence, because we propose to raise that matter in another form in your Lordships' House in a few days' time. Therefore I permit myself to say that the gracious Speech, whatever quality it may possess, has been very carefully drawn. Its diplomatic illusiveness, I think, has probably never been excelled. We have the old familiar words and pious sentiments of affection for the League of Nations, but we have indicated in the gracious Speech no sign of leadership on the part of this country in the matter. The most that we are permitted to learn is that His Majesty's Government will act in co-operation with other Governments—that is to say, Italy is to set the pace of any endeavour that we

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shall make. The noble Earl who moved the Address said how important it was that we should have good relations with Italy, as indeed it is that we should have good relations with every country, but it would seem as if our good relationships with Italy depended upon our willingness to do as we were told.
I must just pass quickly through one or two points in the gracious Speech, and I should like specially to say that I think the allusion to the situation in the Far East is exceptionally unsatisfactory. It is a matter of vast importance not only to our trade position in the Far East but also to the position of Australia and New Zealand. We are not told anything in the Speech as to whether the question of smuggling into China is being dealt with. We are not told whether His Majesty's Government are aware of what the policy of the United States of America is to be. So far as we can judge from the words used we are to stand aside and leave China and Japan to settle their differences as best they may. We have some responsibility for the position that China finds herself in to-day, and I feel that it is right that I should ask His Majesty's Government on this occasion to tell us a little more about their plans in the Far East than the gracious Speech indicates.
I will not to-day enter into the very difficult, the admittedly difficult question of Spain. It is an entirely sickening business, but for his Majesty's Government to talk of non-intervention when everybody knows there has been intervention is rather unsatisfactory. The Press of our country at the present time is following its genial rÔle of exaggerating the faults of the legal Government of Spain and endowing the rebels with virtues they have never possessed and do not possess to-day. There is a sustained whoop of joy at every misfortune that falls on the Government of that country. We may have other opportunities of debating that matter and I will not say more upon the point to-day.
Your Lordships will forgive me if I say that one of the most, important things in the gracious Speech is that portion dealing with India. We are promised Instruments of Instruction which will come before your Lordships' House and we shall have an opportunity of debating the matter then. I am not sure whether on that occasion it will be appropriate
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to inquire into the state of India at the present time, but in case it should not be I should like in passing to utter a very sincere word of hope that before the Elections take place—certainly before any visit of His Majesty to India takes place—some very signal effort of appeasement of the Indian people will have been made. I am aware of the risks that there, would be in releasing all political prisoners, but I believe that risk is worth taking, and that we should at the earliest possible moment help to encourage India to enter upon her new work in full trust with the Government of our own country.
I have said, my Lords, that I will not deal with questions of Defence because we shall deal with those on another occasion. I cannot, however, pass over that part of the gracious Speech which deals with the improvement of the physical condition of the people. This is a lamentable and hoary scandal that ought to have been tackled decades ago. It has been known to every Government for two generations. We knew about it during the Boer War and I have always believed, whether it was right or not, that no interest would have been roused in the matter had there not been a question of recruiting and so many people who were unfit to take their place in the defence of their country or in defence of its policy. The evidence on this matter has long been available. Every medical officer of health, every school doctor has known, and His Majesty's Government have known, about this issue and what it finally meant. But why this sudden zeal for it at the present time One explanation is that the Chancellor of the Exchequer went down to the South Coast and under the influence of the well known tonic air of Margate suddenly became interested in the situation. But what these unfit people want is better food and regular food rather than physical exercises. You may develop a man's muscles and yet at the same time lower his vitality. If we are asked to think about recruiting to-day, as the two noble Lords opposite have asked us to do, let me say that recruiting would be better if the men who offered themselves were fit for positions in His Majesty's forces. The Secretary of State for War has quite recently said that it is because of the enormous number of Army recruits who have to be rejected because of physical defects that the shortage is as great as it is.

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If His Majesty's Government want to tackle this question they should tackle it at the right end.
Then there is the very difficult question of freedom of speech. It is a very precious tradition of our country that we should allow a man to express his political opinions quite freely, however unpopular those opinions may be, and I hope that we shall stick to that heritage as long as we possibly can. I should be very reluctant personally to empower the Government to choose what views should be expressed and what should not. I do not believe there is necessarily any natural right on the part of an individual to choose any particular method of expressing his views. Nobody has the right to assail the Jew as a man or to defame his race. Freedom of a man's action must always depend upon the result and the effects which it has upon others. Judged by any high ethical standard I am not free to go to the altar of any church and to assail the doctrine that is taught there. I am not free to lead a rabble of hair-brained adolescents and rejects of boxing saloons into a Jewish area to assail the Jewish people. There is no reason on earth why the Fascist should not try to persuade people to accept his own crude atavistic philosophy if he can, but there is every reason why he should be asked to keep his propaganda to those limits that we all of us have to accept.
We built our Labour movement by an appeal to the best that was in our people and not the worst, and though we sometimes have come into conflict with the police—I regret to say I have myself—we always accepted their guidance as to what was for the ultimate good of the community. I have the deeply rooted belief that had the Labour movement deliberately fanned riot and disorder, as has been done recently, some method would have been found immediately to have stopped it. I have no doubt in my mind at all about that. His Majesty's Government had no hesitation at all about stopping an anti-Fascist meeting in Thurloe Square because a Fascist meeting was being held in the neighbouring Albert Hall. If it is right to suppress a meeting at Thurloe Square, why should Fascists be allowed to invade the East End as a deliberate act of provocation against a helpless and unoffending people? Nobody who knows the Secretary of State, Sir John Simon, will
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assume for a moment that he approves of any disorder of that kind. I hope your Lordships will forgive me, if I pass a word of sympathy, that I am sure your Lordships all feel, to Sir John Simon in the very great bereavement that has befallen him. He told us that what was happening made his blood boil—as I am sure it would—but I should like to know who it was that prevented his blood from boiling over. There was some influence at work. The last word I will say about this matter is that in my judgment the Jews should keep out of this controversy. It is not their honour that is involved; it is the honour of the Gentiles—our honour—that is besmirched by what is taking place. I feel also that if the Fascists desire to fight, then the Government should give them the chance of the King's uniform—or no uniform at all if they prefer to show their valour against helpless and undefended people.
Before I conclude, let me just say that we are promised a Factories Bill. This is a very old friend; it has been before us many times and at the end of a session we have had to bury it more or less decently. I hope that on this occasion His Majesty's Government really intend to deal with the matter and put it through. Then there are certain notable omissions from the gracious Speech to which I should like to call attention. First of all there is no mention of the Armaments Commission Report, and we do not in the least know what His Majesty's Government propose to do about it. Do they intend to create a Minister of Supply? They have not told us. We remember that they once created a Minister of Thought, but there was no demand for the commodity with which he had to deal, and so he resigned. There is no mention, either, of the Nyassaland Report. I should like to tell His Majesty's Government that we on this side of the House are very anxious about the whole position of the Protectorates and shall in all probability find an occasion for calling your Lordships' attention to it. Then I should like to express my very great sympathy with the noble Marquess, Lord Salisbury, and The noble Lord, Lord Rankeillour, that House of Lords Reform is not mentioned. Once again this matter is out off, and I know that, with their well-known patriotism, they will dutifully

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obey orders and we shall not hear much about it, so that your Lordships' House will continue to function with its usual vigour.
We are promised a very strenuous and difficult Session. I am not sure that we ought not ourselves to take physical exercises to prepare us for the task before us! It will be a momentous and perhaps a decisive Session. On these Benches we shall try to use what influence we have—that is almost none at all—and with such strength and persistence as we possess and as our numbers will allow we shall to raise questions which we think important and shall rely upon your Lordships to do what you are always so ready to do: to listen courteously to whatever views we may wish to put before you.
Loan GAINFORD: My Lords, I am very sorry that one who has had, perhaps, unrivalled experience of occasions of this kind on both sides of this House is absent to-day. I allude to my friend the noble Marquess, Lord Crewe, whose temporary indisposition prevents him from being in his place. I desire, however, on his behalf and on behalf of those with whom I am associated, to compliment the mover and seconder of the Address on the remarkable way in which they have delivered their speeches on a very difficult occasion. The task is always difficult, and by tradition Party politics are not to be introduced. That precedent has been very well and ably followed in the two felicitous speeches to which we have listened and which have given great pleasure to everybody in the House.
The mover, like his father, has had experience in both Houses, and although he has only recently succeeded to his Peerage, yet he is an old friend. In the hereditary official position which he occupied so efficiently, that of Lord Great Chamberlain, we have constantly known him, and we are glad that he is now amongst us in. order that he may sit, and help us in our deliberations. The seconder has already made contributions to some of our debates, and we hope that his keen interest in local affairs may often enable him to join us in debate when matters of which he is cognisant come up for consideration. I had the pleasure in the old days of playing cricket with the fathers of both the noble
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Lords who have spoken; and it has been a great delight to me that they also have retained an hereditary influence in the promotion of our great national game.
The first thing that impressed me on listening to the gracious Speech from the Throne was the somewhat vague attitude which it expressed in regard to some of the problems that come up for consideration. I hope that this vagueness is not due to any indifference or vacillation on the part of His Majesty's Government, or to any unsettled convictions or undefined political ideas. It did seem, however, that on a very large number of problems which require consideration the Government, in the Speech, did not give a very definite lead. What astonished me still more was the length of the Speech and the enormous number of Bills which the Government seem to think it possible to pass in one Session. Twenty-six measures are referred to specifically, and at the end—I do not know who the wag in the Cabinet was who produced this particular sentence, but the penultimate paragraph reads:
"Other measures of importance will be laid before you and proceeded with as time and opportunity offer."
A more ridiculous paragraph never appeared in a King's Speech!
First of all, let the Government realise that they have opposed to them a very strong Opposition in another place, and it seems to me that that Opposition's attitude towards the Government is that the Government can never do anything right but must be attacked in regard to everything that they propose. Then it is again notorious that the followers of the Government, on many of the questions which are referred to in the gracious Speech, do not see eye to eye with them on how these problems are to be solved.
I suppose it would be impossible to leave out the first paragraph, which says:
"My relations with foreign Powers continue to be friendly "—
for if that were done there might be some misunderstanding. To me, however, those words do not seem very appropriate to-day. When we look at the situation in regard to Italy and at recent incidents that have occurred we realise that it is notorious that full harmony has not existed recently between Italy and ourselves. I am somewhat puzzled by Signor Mussolini's last speech in which he asks for certain assurances in regard

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to the freedom of rights in the Mediterranean. If the Leader of the House can give us any satisfaction in regard to that, I think it would be an advantage and would enable some of us to feel that we were approaching a position of increased friendliness with the people of Italy.
In regard to Spain, such words as those to which I have referred have no meaning whatever. In regard to Russia, we all know that Communistic activities are very prevalent, and that there is a desire on the part of the Russian Government to create trouble in almost every country in Europe outside their own boundaries. I think they need very close watching by His Majesty's Government. In regard to Germany, expenditure on armaments is a factor which creates international rivalry, and does not tend at the present moment to that reduction of armaments which we all desire to see. With regard to France and the smaller Powers, I am glad to feel that our relations are really friendly. The only thing I have to say with regard to France is that they have changed their Governments so fast that we hardly know sometimes where we are with the Government in that country.
On these Benches we have a great belief in private enterprise, and I am glad that the Royal Commission on the Private Manufacture of and Trading in Arms has reported in favour of armaments being extended to private firms in addition to Government Departments. In regard to the Coal Mines Bill, which is referred to, the coal industry has been so often assailed that we are very apprehensive of any further indication of being harassed. If the Bill is going to be a repetition of the Bill recently introduced, and is going to deprive shareholders of the right of managing their own affairs and hand their property over to other concerns, I can only tell the Government that they will be up against the whole business community of the country, who hitherto have been their main supporters in the country. Such a Bill is doomed to failure. If it is merely going to deal with central selling arrangements, and the difficult question of royalties, we shall watch that Bill very carefully and see that adequate compensation is paid for all owners-rights in the event of the confiscation of their property.
With regard to tariffs, I have one criticism to make. Whenever the Government have a difficulty with regard to
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tariffs they do not seem to have much policy of their own. They hand the duty over to the Imports Advisory Committee, and then the Imports Advisory Committee has a tariff on a particular article pissed by Order in Council. It seems to me that we are going on increasing our tariffs, which is quite inconsistent with the policy set out in the Speech to the elect that we should have increased international exchange arrangements between our country and other countries. At the present moment our exports are very short. Hitherto our great export has been coal. Before the War we exported something like 70,000,000 tons a year. The figures for the nine months ending September last were only 25,419,000 tons. Last year the figures were 29,065,000 tons. In other words, the export trade upon which depends so much the payments for our food and raw materials is going down, and it is a matter which really requires very careful consideration by the Government, having regard to the subsidies given by foreign countries who export their coal in competition with our coal. As to the improvement in trade, I have no desire to belittle the credit due to the Government; but I want to point out that adversity has been a very hard taskmaster, that those engaged in industry have been for many years trying to reduce the cost of production, and that the credit for the expansion of trade is a good deal due to the acumen of business men in this country, who have done so much to set their house in order.
In regard to recruiting, all I want to ay is that all employers are anxious to do what they can to help the Territorial Forces, but to try and use the powers of an industry in order to force men to join the Army is not the right way to set about it. You will only put the working classes in opposition if you try to use employers of labour to force them into the Territorial Force. The way in which to attract men into the Territorial Force is to make it sufficiently attractive by monetary remuneration and by proper equipment of the Force, so that when they go into camp they can afford the holiday, and will enjoy the camp life.
There are one or two references for which I think the Government do deserve full credit. There is, for instance, the reference to Egypt. I think that is all

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to the good. Then there are other questions such as agriculture, physical training and education. I have no time to devote to them, although I and those associated with me are all interested in those subjects. I think we can also give the Government credit for their policy in India. With Lord Linlithgow as Viceroy and the noble Marquess, Lord Zetland, as Secretary of State for India, I have every confidence in their management of Indian affairs. If I have been a little free in my criticism it is not because we, on these Benches, desire to be unfriendly towards the Government. We are not influenced by a spirit of opposition. Our attitude is due to anxiety to assist the Government, and to make suggestions which may be helpful, while retaining the right of criticism if we think occasion should arise. Our one hope is that our contributions during the Session may forward the national interest and the well being of our people under the sovereignty of our gracious King.
THE LORD PRIVY SEAL (VISCOUNT HALIFAX): My Lords, the House has listened to four speeches, those of the mover and seconder of the Address, followed by the Leaders of the other Parties in the House, and the first thing that I have to do is to associate myself with the two last speakers—and in passing may I particularly associate myself with what fell from the noble Lord opposite as to our regret at the enforced absence of Lord Crewe—in what it fell to them to say upon the two speeches that preceded theirs. It is, I suppose, one of the most valued privileges of the Leader of this House to select those who shall be the first spokesmen of the House in reply to the gracious Speech from the Throne; and I confess that I am constantly amazed at the unbroken record of success that attends the efforts of Leaders to make selections that will be agreeable to your Lordships in that matter. So far, however, from believing that that betokens any excessive share of human wisdom in the mind of Leaders, I prefer in modesty rather to attribute it to the great reserve of talent that, sometimes hid deep, yet is constantly available in your Lordships' House. The noble Lord opposite most truly that the moving and seconding of an Address was no easy task, and I must confess that, unlike him, I am not without a great feeling of gratitude to whoever was the responsible per-
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son or whatever the responsible cause that that duty was never placed, in this House or in another place, upon my own shoulders.
To-day we have listened to two of our number who are no strangers to the House. The noble Earl, as he himself reminded us, moved amongst us in another and in an earlier incarnation, and has been a familiar figure in much of the ceremonial which still attaches to our proceedings. It has fallen to us to-day to welcome him in another part which, if he will allow me to say so, he has played with an eloquence acquired from experience in another place, not unmixed with a wit that, as I fancy, owed more than a little to the hereditary principle by which most of us are here. The seconder has spoken, as the noble Lord said, from ripe knowledge and wide experience in those fields of local government and of voluntary service to which many of your Lordships give traditional and invaluable aid, and which his own county has every reason to expect from one who bears his name. Few can speak with greater authority on the topics that he treated, and he said what he had to say to us to-day in a fashion that tempts me to adapt words of that wise old worthy, Dr. Thomas Fuller, and make him say: "When oratory bids farewell to England, she will give her last groan among the yeomen of Kent." Both of those noble Lords have been closely connected with the conduct of business at that other place in London which many people, I am told, assume to be named after your Lordships' house, and we shall all hope that they may be willing to be not less assiduous in their attendance upon this House and in their interventions in our debates than they have been in the labours they have given in that other cause.
Now I must try to the best of my ability to say something upon the points of policy that have attracted attention in the gracious Speech, and perhaps I ought at the outset to say what falls to be said on this occasion upon the several matters that group themselves under the heading of foreign politics. The noble Lord opposite made a reference to the paragraph in the Speech that deals with the Far East, and he appeared to infer from that reference that the Government were not sufficiently interested in matters which, as he truly said, were of the first

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importance, both from the point of view of trade and of that of the peace of the world, which was inevitably closely affected by events in that region. I can assure the noble Lord that the Government are by no means disinterested, and indeed in the gracious Speech itself it is said that the Government are following with concern the political situation there, and they earnestly hope that the negotiations that are now in progress will reach a satisfactory solution. Those words mean exactly what they say. I can assure the noble Lord opposite that the Government of this country will watch with close interest the passage of events there, and will lose no opportunity, should such come to them, of assisting in any way they can to a peaceful issue of them.
I come a little bit closer home. I think there was an under-current in all the speeches that have been delivered of not unnatural anxiety as to the state of international relations at the present time. We are accustomed to hear from some quarters a great deal of talk of war, and I wish on behalf of His Majesty's Government to state quite plainly that in their view such talk of war is both dangerous and undesirable for this reason, that to approach the making of efforts of peace with a war mind makes the approach to peace ten times more difficult; and I say that while at the same time saying that I think much of that talk which falls upon our ears is a measure rather of men's dread than of their expectations. For, if the world has learnt nothing else, it ought surely to have learnt that even victory, to whatever side in any future war it might fall, would not suffice to repair the damages upon the social life of the world that that war would certainly inflict. And therefore I would prefer that we should have in our minds that the international situation is certainly difficult but by no means desperate, and I would certainly say—and I have no doubt your Lordships would agree—that. if there are good will and determination for peace generally present in the minds and the hearts of all nations, I am convinced that there are no difficulties that, confront us to-day that will be found to be insuperable in the pursuit of peace.
The noble Lord, Lord Gainford, referred to the question of our relations with Italy, and they also engaged the attention of the noble Earl who moved the
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Address. It is perhaps not unnecessary or irrelevant to repeat what has often been said, that there has never been on our side any Anglo-Italian difference. Such difficulty as there has been arose, an your Lordships are very well aware, from the attempt by this country loyally to discharge international obligations to which its representatives had set their signature, and, so far as we are concerned, we are always ready to return to the full relations of friendship with Italy that have been the traditional relations between our two countries. So far as we are concerned, I see no reason why it should not be possible easily to reach complete understanding where misunderstanding has, in some quarters, existed. Although there might perhaps be many things that any one speaking in my position at this moment might be tempted to say, I shall content myself with making this one observation. Although Italy and this country have great interests in the Mediterranean, it is in my view quite unprofitable to argue which of these interests are more important because, quite evidently, that is a subject on which argument might be in definite; but the past history of those nations has shown these interests to be not divergent but complementary, and I venture to assert that the greatest of all these interests for both countries is that of peace.
That brings me to say a word about the League of Nations. I think that those who are the warmest adherents of the League should also be the most ready to recognise the lessons of the past twelve months, and I think that what my noble friend who moved the Address had to say on that subject was wise. We all know that the failure of the League to prevent aggression has made it plain that the method of application of the Covenant may require revision to fit the facts—facts so different from w hat the framers of the Covenant anticipated; and it will not have escaped your Lordships' attention that at the recent meeting of the Assembly at Geneva the Foreign Secretary, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, indicated in broad outline what in the judgment of His Majesty's Government seemed to be the main elements of the present weakness in the League. These were, first of all, the lack of universality of membership which, though I do not develop it now,

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affects the judgment of other countries both on economic questions and on questions of high national policy; in the second place, the invitation contained in the Covenant to signatories to assume greater obligations than in all circumstances they are at present prepared to accept; and, lastly, the fact that, in the words used by the Foreign Secretary, "the League stands, so it is alleged, for the maintenance of an order of things with which some Governments are not content." As your Lordships know, a Committee has been set up to examine and bring together the views of the different States Members, and in that examination it is the intention of His Majesty's Government to co-operate to the full in the hope that they will succeed in finding a successful issue from these difficult deliberations.
Not unconnected perhaps with these questions of foreign policy, and indeed with the League of Nations, is the reference that the Speech makes to the question of Defence. As your Lordships are aware, we are promised before long an opportunity for fuller debate on this question, and I do not therefore wish to anticipate what will then be said. I only have to say that the Government will welcome that opportunity and that on that occasion it will be possible, I hope, for those who take part in it to argue the question to which the noble Lord opposite referred—namely, the merits or demerits of a. Ministry of Supply. The Government will be anxious when that debate takes place, as far as they possibly can, to take the country into their full confidence upon the nature of the task by which they consider themselves to be confronted, upon the progress made in it, and upon the difficulties that that task must necessarily encounter. I believe that there is to-day a fuller realisation in the country as a whole both of the facts and of the necessity for the action that the Government are now taking, and I can so far anticipate what it will then no doubt fall to those who speak for the Government to say in that debate by assuring your Lordships that if the Government see that any further measures are necessary for them to fulfil what they deem requisite, they will not hesitate to come to Parliament and ask for them.
Here I will in a sentence associate myself with what fell from the noble mover and also, I think, from the noble
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Seconder in regard to matters of recruiting. It is of urgent importance that the establishments in men should be made up for the discharge of our Imperial obligations and, so far as concerns the Territorial Force, for the efficient equipment of the air defence of this country. I recognise the force of what fell from the noble Lord who spoke last on that subject, and I am quite sure he also will agree that employers as well as the State can do much by encouraging their employees to join the Territorial Force, by making it easy for them to attend drills and camps and so on, and also by doing whatever may be within their power to find employment for ex-soldiers when their service is completed.
One other general observation I would make on this subject before I leave it, and that is to emphasise what fell from my noble friend who moved. There is nothing inconsistent between a vigorous prosecution of rearmament and a loyal adherence to the League and the steadfast pursuit of peace. If there were any critics who held that there was such opposition, I would venture to take leave to tell them that they would find themselves, outside this country, almost alone in holding such a view. It is of coarse true that armaments by themselves do not assure peace, and armaments indeed may often threaten peace; but they do not threaten peace in the circumstances in which this country is rearming, for there is no country in the world which suspects itself to be under any threat from us. And even leaving aside the vital interests of this country, which we are bound to protect, I would unhesitatingly assert that it is true that in present circumstances the greatest contribution that this country can make to peace is by placing herself in a position where her known strength might act as a powerful deterrent against any hypothetical aggressor.
The noble Lord opposite spoke of Spain, and I must quite candidly admit that in his diagnosis both of the situation in Spain and the attitude of His Majesty's Government I recognised only partial contact with realities as I understand them. It is quite true that the policy of nonintervention has not worked perfectly. I have never yet met anyone who ever supposed that it would, or that it could work perfectly, but I am quite certain that it has worked a great deal better

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than if it had never worked at all, and I would remind the noble Lord that, even if he has no great confidence in this matter in His Majesty's Government, the French Government, who are closer to the danger area and whom perhaps he might feel to be greater realists in this matter than ourselves, have been quite unwavering in their judgment that the only wise policy for European nations to pursue as far as they could pursue it together was a strict policy of official nonintervention. I was very glad that my noble friend said what he did by way of acknowledgment of the services of the Royal Navy on the humanitarian side, and their services have been, as the House knows, accompanied by the most devoted efforts on the part of the Counsellor to His Majesty's Embassy at Madrid and British Consuls in all parts of Spain who have been able to contribute a great deal to the task presented to them by many who were thought to be in circumstances of danger.
The general policy that the European Powers have seen fit to pursue is surely wisely based. It is admittedly dangerous to have political divisions in Europe establishing themselves on the basis of rival and conflicting philosophies, but it is not our business, nor should we wish, to interfere with any other nations as long as they do not interfere with us, and if everybody so acted the competition of philosophies would perhaps do no great mischief. But a wholly different and a much graver danger would emerge if these philosophies were to be projected across State boundaries and claim interest in the internal affairs of their unhappy neighbours, and it is that danger which our Government along with other Governments of Europe have sought to evade.
I welcome the approval that was given by the noble Lord opposite to the paragraph in the Speech upon Egypt. I understand that the Treaty of Alliance with Egypt which was signed in August is now before the Egyptian Parliament, and as soon as that discussion shall have terminated, I can assure your Lordships that, in accordance with the undertaking given by my right honourable friend, the Secretary of State in another place, an early opportunity will be afforded for the matter to be debated in this House. It is hardly necessary to add that that debate will, of course, take place before
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the Treaty is ratified by His Majesty's Government.
It was natural that a good deal should be said about the economic and the trade position, but I am not going into that this evening in any detail. I am quite sure that in all parts of the world the joint declaration of the three Governments of France, the United States and this country made in September has been recognised to be a historic and a significant document. I am also quite sure that we all recognise that the noble Lord who seconded referred in his remarks to the bare elements of the truth when he emphasised the importance of the continued recovery of the foreign trade of this country, to which we look with hope, keeping pace, so far as it may, with the welcome recovery that we have been able to register in our own internal industrial conditions. It is, I think, a matter of some relief at all events that we should be able to record figures such as we can to-day record, both for the numbers employed in this country and also for the numbers that are still unhappily unemployed. I do not trouble your Lordships with those figures beyond giving you the one figure of employment. The latest estimate is that 10,966,000 insured persons between the ages of sixteen and sixty-four were in employment on 23rd September, 1936. That is a very large and remarkable figure, and I hope that during the succeeding months, if we can secure, as we are making efforts to secure, some expansion of our foreign trade, that figure will be further increased. And here I associate myself wholly with what the noble Lord opposite said as to the debt under which the country is to the efforts that have been made by leaders of industry in all parts of it to develop and make the best use they can of scientific and other improvements for the betterment of their industrial position which, of course, reflects itself directly upon the position of employment.
I was relieved to find in what was at the time rather a desert of criticism as oasis of almost cordial approval in the remarks of the noble Lord opposite in regard to the paragraph in the gracious Speech about the amendment the existing law to deal with persons of organisations that might be held to be provocative and dangerous to the public peace. I think it is true that

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action is necessary to deal with the organisation of what in some cases seem to me to come perilously near gangs of political hooligans seeking to press their own political creed upon their neighbours by methods from which our political life has hitherto been most fortunately immune. I do not pretend, and I do not think His Majesty's Government would pretend, that these people are in any sense a menace to the stability of the State, but they are, or are becoming, quite definitely in the judgment of His Majesty's Government a public nuisance, and as such we hope to deal with them. The noble Lord quite truly said that violence is not a political argument, and it is our duty, as it would be the duty of any Government, to maintain the liberties of the people and to take all measures that we deem necessary to enable. law-abiding citizens everywhere to pursue their peaceful avocations without let or hindrance. The King's peace is the charge of duly constituted authorities under the Crown, and it is not our intention to tolerate under any pretence the invasion of the rights and responsibiliies which those authorities alone are empowered to exercise under the law in the discharge of their duties.
We all know perfectly well that political associations have enjoyed, and do enjoy, due liberty of assembly and free speech. They have enjoyed those things for centuries and those things are of the very essence of our democratic institutions. We, no less than any noble Lord opposite, are determined that they shall continue. But political associations in this country—the noble Lord opposite mentioned the Labour Party—have never yet claimed and much less enjoyed the right in the exercise of those privileges to arrogate to themselves the powers of the police, or so to act as to place their fellow citizens in jeopardy, either jeopardy in person or jeopardy in property. Freedom, as we understand it, is not licence, nor is it the denial of the freedom of other people, and we shall take such steps as may be found necessary after close examination of the law to strengthen the hands of the lawfully constituted authorities to deal with these political manifestations which, as the noble Lord who seconded said, are so utterly un-English and so foreign to the spirit it of our people.
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The noble Lord who seconded spoke with great knowledge about matters of agricultural interest on which I must not detain your Lordships for more than a moment. It is not, I think, a small thing that the action of the Government should have succeeded in establishing certain branches of farming as pretty secure against loss and as capable of being worked at a reasonable profit by efficient farmers. I need only specify pigs, certain sides of market gardening, wheat, potatoes, milk, mutton and lamb, and so on. We are promised in the gracious Speech an effort to put the industry of fat cattle on a more satisfactory basis. I think your Lordships will not have any objection to my saying that in those matters in which the late Minister for Agriculture has been really a pioneer, travelling over uncharted territory, it is really remarkable that he should have been able to achieve such results. In leaving for another sphere of usefulness he will, I am sure, leave to his successor all the good wishes that he has hitherto enjoyed himself.
The noble Lord who leads the Opposition had something to say upon a most important subject that finds place in the gracious Speech—namely, the reference there to the determination of His Majesty's Government, to leave nothing undone that it may be in their power to do to secure the improvement of the physique of the younger element of the population in the country. I did not find myself—but I must not argue it now—able to accept his wholesale charge of negligence against Governments over a long period, I think of more than twenty years. If such wholesale charge had lain it would of course have covered Governments including one in which, if my memory serves me aright, he was a distinguished member. I think in that matter he was treating past Governments, including his own, somewhat too hardly. The truth is that in this matter progress, if not as rapid as we now hope to make it, has been continuous and on the whole steady. I do not believe it is possible to look back over the history of the last thirty or forty years without realising that across the field of social conditions there has been a steady attempt by one Government after another, now here now there, gradually all along the line, to lift the level of the

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physical conditions under which our people live.
With the noble Lord who seconded I can assure him that the Government, realise to the full the close connection between the physical and the mental health of the people. Doctors are always teaching us how closely allied are mind and body, and it is quite impossible for us to expect to see a contented population in this country unless we can make the physical conditions of life somewhat more close to those which all of us, without distinction of Party here, would wish to see. I can assure my noble friend who seconded that it will be the desire of His Majesty's Government to make every use that they can of those voluntary societies that he had in mind which have laid the country under such a debt by the services that they have already rendered. The task is surely great enough for all men to enlist in the service of it, and I hope that when we debate a Motion that stands in the name of my noble friend Lord Mount Temple, a short time from now, it will be possible for many of your Lordships to make contribution to that debate and that together we may be able to inform ourselves further of what is involved in the progress that we have in mind.
I was touched by the sympathy of the noble Lord opposite for those of my friends who might be expected to be disappointed at there being no reference in the gracious Speech to the question of the reform of your Lordships' House, but I think that they will perhaps be as well able to give expression to their disappointment, if and when they feel it, as the noble Lord opposite is to give expression to it for them. I have no doubt that should they see fit they will be able to give such expression, and they will no doubt then expect the help of the noble Lord opposite and those who think with him in supporting them in pressing the matter on the attention of your Lord ships.
It is quite true, as the noble Lord, Lord Gainford, said, that it is a long programme that the gracious Speech has offered to us, but I am advised by those who measure these things and are accustomed to weigh the relative weight of programmes that this is in fact not longer and not heavier than many programmes that have been tackled with success and with general approval in past times.
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There is, after all, in this programme that His Majesty has set before us, much common ground and I think there is a singular absence—at least I hope so—of matters that will be sharply controversial. I noted, of course, what the noble Lord opposite said with regard to matters affecting the coal industry and I have no doubt that the Government will weigh the words that he said on that subject. In the same way, I have no doubt that he will weigh with due consideration the terms of the Government Bills when he has them before him. But it is the hope of His Majesty's Government that if we are able, as I hope we shall be, to cooperate on a great deal of this programme it may be possible to complete it without placing an undue strain upon your Lordships' House.
Both the noble mover and the noble seconder of the Reply to the gracious Speech made reference to the fact that this was a Reply to the first Speech that had fallen from the lips of our present King in this present Parliament, and they reminded us that within a short time the whole Empire would be looking forward to participation in the ceremony of His Majesty's Coronation. I am quite certain that they were right in saying once more that the country and the Empire would never forget the self-sacrifice of His present Majesty's illustrious Father, and that noble Lords, in common with every one of His Majesty's subjects in whatever part of the world they may live, look forward to the opportunity next year of giving outward evidence of their loyalty to the Crown and their dutiful affection for its person, and of their good wishes for a long and prosperous reign.
On Question, Motion agreed to nemine dissentiente, and Address to be presented to His Majesty by the Lords with White Staves.

DEFENCE SERVICES.
THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURY: My Lords, might I put a question to my noble friend? I think it would be for the convenience of your Lordships if he could state on what date he hopes the debate on Defence will take place in your Lordships' House.
VISCOUNT HALIFAX: My Lords, I might answer the question that my noble friend has put, to me, I understand that

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the noble Lord opposite intends to initiate a debate on Defence on Tuesday week, November 17; and, as my noble friend the Secretary of State for Air intimated the other day, the Government will be anxious to place at the disposal of the House, so far as it lies with them to influence the decision, whatever days might be thought necessary to give adequate time for the debate.

CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES.
VISCOUNT HALIFAX: My Lords, I beg to move that the Earl of Onslow be appointed to take the Chair in all Committees of this House for this Session.
Moved accordingly, and, on Question, Motion agreed to nemine dissentiente.
Committee for Privileges—Appointed.
Committee for the Journals—Appointed.
Appeal Committee—Appointed.
Stoppages in the Streets—Order to prevent, renewed.
House adjourned at twenty-five minutes past six o'clock